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Rey's Reviews: True To The Faith (Gooding) |
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Written by Rey
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Thursday, 04 August 2005 |
What’s the Point of the Book?
To offer a refreshing commentary on the book of Acts, that doesn’t
follow a verse by verse format but looks more at literary structure. In
so doing, David Gooding aims to establish some facts about the
beginnings of Christianity, highlight features in the text that show a
separation from Judaism and differences with naturalism, differences
with spiritualism and what the Christian attitude should be in this
world. Basically, Luke has a point in writing the letter and it’s not
merely listing the historical beginnings of Christianity.
The Good?
The Table of Contents reflects the presented structure of Acts. The
Sections have the verses in parenthesis so a person can follow along
with their own Bible. There is contextual quoting of portions
throughout the book. Gooding starts each section with preliminary
observations and then delves into the passage always working from one
portion to the next. Always the teacher, Gooding makes it a point to
remind the readers of previous movements when continuing forward in the
piece. David’s writing style is sharp and yet attainable. The
comparative charts are outstanding. Personally I have found this method
of study exceedingly helpful. Luke’s writing amazed me when Gooding
takes these portions and puts them next to each other showing how much
thought Luke put into things. Note this bit from the final section of
Acts:
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Defense of Nature-Worship and the Defense of the Church of God (19:21 – 21:16)
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The Gospel to be Judged by Its respect to the conscience
(21:17 – 23:11)
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The Gospel to be judged by its attitude to morality and the law
(23:12 – 24:27)
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The Gospel to be Judged by its message for Caesar and the world
(25:1 – 26:32)
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Nature’s storms and the Kingly rule of God
(27:1 – 28:31)
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The Riot and It’s Quelling (19:24-35)
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The Right and the Rescue (21:17-36)
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The Proposed Ambush and the Escape (23:12-24)
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The Proposed Ambush and the Escape (25:1-3)
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The Storm Survival and Landing (27:1-44)
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The Bad?
The glue in the binding is bad. I’ve read the book twice and some of
the pages are starting to come out. Content wise, nothing bad.
The Ugly?
Can’t find anything ugly here. The book jacket is well designed, the
typeface is readable, the conclusions he offers seem to follow
logically from the text so all in all, this book is all out goodness.
Star Rating.
This book is outstanding. At the very least, it offers people another
way to study that is super-refreshing. The way Gooding looks at things
gives me personally a feel for what the Biblical writer is saying in
the narrative and the why of it all. I give this book an unashamedly
five stars with a recommendation of must buy. Right now. Go.
-r-
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